


Delayed

by DustToDust



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-18 23:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8180473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DustToDust/pseuds/DustToDust
Summary: There's not enough time, and things spin out of control almost from the moment Shiro opens his eyes up again on Earth.





	

**Author's Note:**

> 5 times someone interrupted the welcome back kiss and one time when it wasn't interrupted.

Keith.

For several seconds Shiro feels like he’s dreaming again. That he’ll wake up back in his cell before another fight, the steady pacing of the guards his only companion. He’s had dreams like it before after all. Dreams where he was home on Earth with Keith by his side, and even the odd desperate dream of the cell door opening to reveal Keith on the other side. There to save him. He’d even had a few nightmares of the doors opening for Keith to be shoved inside wearing the regular prisoner clothing.

Shiro doesn’t like to think of the nightmares where he walked into the arena and his opponent for the round stared at him with achingly familiar eyes.

The scratch of a wool blanket is too real for a dream though, and Shiro’s sure that even he couldn’t imagine the play of emotions that passes through Keith’s eyes when he notices Shiro is awake. “Shiro.”

Keith’s voice is as warm as the hand on his neck, and Shiro’s shocked to realize he’s forgotten the way the other man sounds. That the time spent away had eroded his memories of the pitch and cadence of it.

“You’re alive,” there’s a hidden pit of feeling under those simple words that makes Shiro’s gut twist in sympathy. He can only imagine what Keith’s been through this whole time.

“Yeah,” his own voice is still hoarse from little use and the yelling he’d done before the drugs had brought him down. He reaches up to place his flesh hand against Keith’s neck in return. Relishing the warmth of his skin as he leans down.

“Hey Keith!” A loud voice jolts them apart, and Shiro glances around wildly before spotting the crooked doorway that opens up on the world outside. It rattles a bit before opening up for someone tall and completely unfamiliar. “Don’t you have a- Hey, he’s awake!”

~

“Hey,” Keith says and Shiro stops, letting Pidge walk ahead. Mind already on the mission ahead of them. They’re alone then, for the time being, and Keith reaches out for Shiro. Relieved when the other man easily accepts the arm sliding around his back. Keith pulls and leans into the familiar planes of Shiro’s chest. Closing his eyes so he can inhale the scent he’d lost the day Shiro’s clothes had stopped smelling of anything but Keith. “I missed you.”

The words are really inadequate to describe how Keith felt from the moment word came through of the missed communications from the Kerberos mission. He doesn’t bother trying to elaborate though. Shiro knew that words weren’t his best suit, Keith spoke better with action than anything else.

“You were all I could think about some days,” Shiro says, his emotions all over his voice as he returns the embrace. Firm with his regular arm but still tentative with the metal one in a way that makes Keith’s chest ache. Warm fingers nudge his chin up and Keith leans up, tilting his head back for-

“Ah-ha, there you are!” Keith nearly bites his tongue as Coran’s voice, loud and grating precedes the man’s brisk stride. “Now, now, no time for that. We’ve got a castle to whip up into shape, and I’m not letting you get out of any of the work you hear? Now come along!”

Keith growls as he’s hauled away from Shiro by the determined Altean.

~

“Be careful,” Shiro repeats. He’s scared in a way that he hasn’t been in a long while, even as he feels fully confident in Keith’s ability to get the mission completed. Out of them all, Keith is the best fighter. Shiro knows that from experience and the awkward ways that the other three have been handling their weapons. Time will straighten them all up but for now they are untested in ways that Shiro and Keith are not.

Still, they’re sneaking into a Galra ship. Shiro can’t help the cold fear that freezes his guts solid. Getting the Red lion is their only hope, but the thoughts of what could happen if anything goes wrong make it hard for him to think straight.

“Don’t worry,” Keith says with his usual confidence as he steps right up into Shiro’s space. Shiro reflexively looks to where the others are, but none of them are paying any attention. “I won’t let you down.”

“You never do,” Shiro says automatically and it’s easier than it should be to reach out and pull Keith even closer. To lean down until he can feel the hot wave of Keith’s breaths on his face.

“Hey don’t you think we should- Ah, crap!” Hunk looks apologetic as he backs up, hands held up in embarrassment. Which naturally draws the attention of the others “Sorry! Sorry!”

Shiro sighs even as Keith glares mutely. They step apart and Shiro cuts off the curious looks they’re getting fast. “Alright, let’s do this.”

~

“Are you alright?” Keith asks as he kneels down next to Shiro. The simulations on hold as they all try to catch their breathing back up. Keith’s shoulder still aches from the blow he’d blocked when Shiro froze. A single moment of panic that is still crystal clear in Keith’s mind as he realized Shiro wasn’t going to move out of the way of the attack.

“Fine,” the smile he gives Keith is tired and decidedly not fine, but Keith lets the little lie pass for the moment. It’s only been two days, he realizes with astonishment, and the novelty of having Shiro right in front of him is still more than Keith could have ever hoped for. “Thanks for the save.”

“I’ll always have your back,” Keith responds. The silent when I can see it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth that Keith ignores. Shiro is alive, Shiro is here. That’s what matters now. Rocking forwards on the balls of his feet, Keith dips his head and brushes a faint kiss to Shiro’s chin before the man turns his head. Angling up so that-

“What are you doing!?” The Princess’ sharp voice rings loudly in the training deck as she furiously storms into the room. Shiro winces from the noises but straightens up dutifully as they’re put back to work.

~

Shiro doesn’t like that they don’t have a secondary plan for if things go wrong, but they’re not in a good enough position to scrap the plan they have now. They have Voltron and the now working Castle. The thing they most desperately need now is intel.

“You worry too much,” Keith says and slides down onto the seat next to him.

“As the commanding officer I’m supposed to,” Shiro says and lets himself grin a little ruefully. They all might have come from the Garrison, but Shiro’s under no illusions that their current positions fit within the rank structure of it anymore. He leans back into the soft curve of the seat though, feeling Keith shift until They’re pressed side to side. It’s a comfort that Shiro’s missed.

“Don’t,” Keith orders bluntly as if it’s that easy, and he reaches around Shiro to pull him even closer. “Just stop worrying for a few minutes, alright?”

Shiro feels like he’s been doing nothing but that for too long. Stopping now isn’t very likely, but Keith makes it seem like a viable option with just his presence. There’s been no time since his escape to relax though. No time to really sit down and process anything, to let himself just be, and Shiro suddenly wants that with an ache he hasn’t felt since being held prisoner. Keith is on his right side, but Shiro only hesitates a little before using the enhanced arm, still so new to him, wrap around Keith. To turn so they’re not just side by side, and lean down for a kiss that never comes.

“Shiro, we are,” Allura breaks them apart, and her voice hitches, eyes sharp and perceptive as she takes them both in. The pause is minuscule before she starts talking again, but Shiro thinks there’s a bit of apology in it. “Almost to our target. It’s time to suit up.”

~

It takes them a year but they find the Black lion’s signal last, and Keith isn’t even surprised anymore because that’s just they way his luck runs.

There’s a mess of distress signals and floating scraps of Galra ships when they arrive in the system Shiro’s in. Keith doesn’t even wait for the Castle to reach the atmosphere before he’s in Red and flying to the signal that’s as strong as the comms aren’t. The staticky breaks of Shiro’s voice aren’t enough to make him wait any longer. Especially not when it’s clear the other man can’t hear them at all.

When Keith walks out of Red, Shiro’s face is awed and filled with love. He looks the same way he looked back on Earth when he first woke up. Keith ignores the excited shatter of the aliens around them, the distant roar of the other lions, and firmly pulls Shiro down into a kiss that’ been waiting for too long.


End file.
